May The Cities Remain
by Demon-Something
Summary: Cobb knew he couldn't be in his memories. And he couldn't remember anywhere like this in his dream city.- Cobb wakes up in a strange dream, and the formerly forgotten past comes to light.


Galactica and Inception must seem like an odd combination, but what about that Cylon projection we would have inherited while in Lee's Caveman Paradise? Shared memories like that would be perfect to access via the dream world, so I got this idea. I hope this is enjoyed.

Cobb knew he couldn't be in his memories. And he couldn't remember anywhere like this in his dream city.

This city was entirely futuristic, but not almost ominously over-planned like his and Mal's city in Limbo. And there were anachronisms.

No one has a cell-phone, and the cars passing by are swoopy and alien, like a few concepts he had seen at a car show back in 93'.

It's not the beach with Mal and the kids, but he's still intrigued by the city, the subtle differences. At the same time, he's terrified. This isn't the beach, this isn't Limbo, so this is… technically nowhere. He doesn't know why he would imagine it; it's very complex, more than he's pulled off in years, and beyond Nash's little mistakes and Ariadne's strong, but still new skills. He doesn't know what to do; he's hearing no music, and he has to stay here for a few hours before he can throw himself off a roof or the like to return back to the workshop. So he walks. He turned left, and goes through a park. There were boys playing ball in what looked like a designated field, but it's shaped something like a triangle and he has little idea of what they're doing. Other people were sunning themselves, walking their dogs, doing things anyone would do in a park back in reality. But he couldn't shake the feeling that this place is alien, that these people were more than projections.

A few city blocks took over and Cobb found himself staring at silver spires and weirdly shaped aircraft, some of which had shapes that clearly weren't aerodynamic ascend rather high up. His walking continued and he found a river, with another bit of parkland by it. So he walked down the path, noticed everyone's conversations, and how varied they were, unlike in a dream; where the thoughts of the one who's mind they're in is thinking. There was a tap on his shoulder, and Cobb turned around. There stood Mal in a dark blue dress. Cobb backed away from the shade, but she spoke.

"Nice place isn't it?"

Unlike The Shade, this Mal's voice was calm and serene, like the Mal-the real Mal he fell in love with.

"Yes," Cobb replied warily.

"Before I say what I have to; I'm not that shade. I'm… something else, in a form your more… comfortable with," Mal said, thinking about her words.

"Something else?" Cobb asked, scared of what his mind could be able to produce.

"Yes, something else," said Mal, "Anyways, this place is nice. And it was real once."

"What?"

"This place was real, with real people and everything. It's name was…"

Mal was cut off as a blinding flash of white light came, and Cobb woke back in the workshop, still quite confused.

"So where were you exactly," Ariadne asked a minute later as Cobb exited out of the room with the briefcase. The gang had all dispersed for the evening, except for Ariadne, designing the maze for their next "last mission." The lure of creation and fulfillment still was too much for all of them, and Cobb told Ariadne his latest.

"It was this city, pretty big and it looked maybe what, thirty years in the future. But they weren't any cell-phones or iPods or electronics really."

"Interesting," Ariadne said casually, showing her interest.

"And Mal was there," Cobb replied, and he braced himself.

"What? I swore you finally got rid of her. She's a threat to your sanity, and if you keep seeing her and go into Limbo permanently, I just want to let you know I'll be the one disconnecting your comatose body from life support in front of your two cute little moppets, okay?"

"I know, but this was weird. She said she was "something else," and it felt like it."

"I get it now; you've fully realized she's a projection; but you just don't care, rendering the whole point moot."

"No, it's just… never mind. You wouldn't understand, you weren't there.

"I still think you're risking your safety.

"But I felt safe around her; that she still wanted me to leave the dream world, and I did. There was this bright light that came from sky, and I came back here. It wasn't related to Mal."

"That sounds a lot like a nuclear detonation Cobb," Ariadne reasoned, "which is overkill, and once you think about it, rather 80's."

"Well, it doesn't matter, I'm back here safe. I'm going home. James and Phillipa have to go to bed soon."

"Okay, good night and I still think this is bad because this involves Mal."

"You've told me a lot."

"I'm aware of that," Ariadne admitted, "But only because you warned me about all this, even though if you warn me about it, you do it anyway."

"You're correct, and I'll see you and everyone else tomorrow, okay."

"Okay."

Cobb took his jacket and left into the cool night, ready to think about the previous events.

The next day was sunny and bright, but it didn't extend to the workshop chosen here in the US. In one of the dark and damp rooms, the PASIV stood on a folding metal table, ready to go. Yusuf was already waiting for Cobb when he arrived that morning. Cobb took a seat in a salvaged pool lounge chair and turned towards Yusuf.

"Morning," Cobb greeted.

"Good morning too," Yusuf replied, "Still trying to get your old skills back?" he asked, ready to get to buisness.

"No," Cobb replied, "I have a few loose ends to tie up from yesterday."

"Okay then, I presume you want an hour down there?"

"Yes."

"Okay then."

Yusuf handed Cobb a glass of water, which he presumed had a weak sedative, and he drank it while Yusuf grabbed the record and placed it on the player, waiting to be used in a few minutes. Cobb laid his head back and closed his eyes.

He woke back by the river where he left wherever he was, but in a different spot. Mal stood before him.

"I figured you would come back," she said, "I have a lot of things to explain, so come with me," Mal said. She led Cobb to a car, and they both got in. Mal started the car and she pulled out of a parking spot and into the thick city traffic.

"Picking up from last time, this place is called Caprica City," Mal said, "and it's the capital of this planet."

"Planet?" Cobb asked in disbelief.

"Yes planet. There most certainly are other habitable ones. This one obviously is Caprica, and this city is the capital of the Twelve Colonies. Please don't say Twelve Colonies as a question; you can probably assume what I mean."

"Wait, colonies? From where?"

"A place called Kobol, a long way from Earth but not as much as here. I'd say the lore, but most of it somehow managed to get remembered in one way or another. You probably know some of the more well known Greek myths."

"Yes I do, why?"

"Those came from Kobol, and exist in the same state here."

Caprica City was thinning out now, the buildings were getting shorter and dingier, and Mal continued as she got on a highway.

"The other Twelve Colonies are much different in some ways from Caprica, which is a lot like your own home. I have plenty of time, so I'll tell you as much as I can."

Over the next hour, Cobb learned of histories, separate and intertwined. He learned of the works of art from Virgon, the war stories from Picon and Tauron, the fields of Aerilon, the libraries and courthouses of Libran, the grasslands of Leonis, the temples and deserts of Gemenon, the factories, rebellions, and traditions of Saggitaron, the coasts of Canceron, the laboratories of Aquaria, the jungles of Scorpia, and the cities of Caprica. Cobb learned of the Fleet, of Battlestars and their supporting ships. And there was one more thing to learn bythe time Mal stopped the car at a house by a lake, far removed from Caprica City. Mal motioned for Cobb to enter the house, and so he did. They sat across from each other in the living room, and Mal started talking again.

"There's one last important thing about the Colonies," Mal paused, "the Cylons."

"And they are?" Cobb asked, still intrigued after massive amounts of information.

"They're like…" Mal struggled to find what she was trying to mean, "They're like your Terminators from that movie of yours, just much more organic, plus more atypical big metal robots, who were the original Cylons. The Colonials dub them toasters. They rebelled from their servitude, and after a long and bloody war, forty years ago, they left."

"So where did they go?"

"They just went off into space. But today's the day they come back."

"What?"

"They're returning with a vengeance. They'll destroy the cities and leave a small fleet to flee… to Earth.

"Wait, can't we do anything about it? This is my dream."

"No, this isn't a dream; it's a memory."

A flash of light enveloped Mal for a second, and she emerged as a different woman, a blonde wearing a red dress.

"We're what you term 'angels,'" this new Mal said, "But we don't like it. This isn't a dream, but it is. Its part of your subconscious, its part of everyone's subconscious. And here's how."

Cobb seemed to leave the room, and found himself standing in grassland, in a place if he had to guess, would be in Africa. He and Mal were staring at a couple watching their young child.

"Where are we?" Cobb asked.

"Tanzania," the angel replied, "The man is human. The woman is a Cylon. And the child, she's the first half-Cylon. And she is the reason you're experiencing this. She gave all of humanity the base ability to access memories of the Colonies and the flight to Earth. She is Mitochondrial Eve, who united humanity and the Cylons 150,000 years ago."

"150,000 years? No memories go back this far, this has to be a dream. I have to get out!" Cobb said, starting to panic.

"Don't worry, you will leave soon. Cobb found himself suddenly back in his seat at the lake house.

"You're in an altered memory replacing an actual one. The projections in Caprica City were projections, but ones of the former inhabitants. My current form is my primary one, one that used to belong to a Cylon. Yours was my lover, who sowed the seeds of destruction without knowing."

"How?" Cobb interrupted.

"He made an operating program for the Fleet that I planted a virus in, letting a Cylon strike force slip in with no effects. The survivors took to space, and founded your civilization."

Music drifted in from nowhere, and the angel sighed.

"I want to thank you Cobb, for giving me the form of Mal. I'm beginning to tire of my current one after all this time. And I want to thank you in advance for telling people what I told you."

"How do you know I will?"

"Because you have to, because people need to know their history, their ancestry, and one day, Caprica City and everywhere else will exist again. Thank you for at least listening Dom," the angel said.

Dom let out an instinctive scream, the shockwave from the nuclear destruction had appeared in view. The angel raised her voice.

"Tell people everything. That FTL is possible! That this place exists! This has all happened before, and it will all happen again!" The shockwave reached the house, and Cobb woke up. He panted, and sat up in the chair. He turned his head to Yusuf, and opened his mouth…

So ends this little story of mine, and I'd really like to hear of what you think, and whether this should be continued or not. Thank you for reading.


End file.
